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108th Guards Rifle Division
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108th Guards Rifle Division
The 108th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in July 1943, based on the 4th Guards Rifle Brigade and the 10th Guards Rifle Brigade and was the first of a small series of Guards divisions formed on a similar basis. It was considered a "sister" to the 109th Guards Rifle Division and they fought along much the same combat paths until the spring of 1945.
Following a further abortive offensive against the German Gotenkopfstellung on the Taman Peninsula that month the division was moved into reserve and then sent northwest to join the 44th Army in Southern Front. During the advance to the Dniepr River in early November that Army was disbanded and the division, along with its 10th Guards Rifle Corps, was briefly reassigned to 28th Army. During the winter the division took part in the battles along the Dniepr bend until the front broke open in March 1944 and the 108th Guards advanced to the Southern Bug River, winning an honorific in the process. After taking part in the takeover of Odessa the division fought along the Dniester as part of 5th Shock Army but was brought to a halt in heavy fighting west of the river. A new offensive began in August when the division was part of 46th Army and each of its rifle regiments won battle honors during the advance through eastern Romania and into Hungary. By November it was at the outer defenses of Budapest but remained engaged in fighting for that city until it finally fell on February 13, 1945. During the last months of the war the 108th Guards played a minor part in beating back the German Army's final offensive in Hungary before advancing on Vienna as part of the 27th Army. The division compiled a fine record of service but was disbanded in 1947.
By mid-1943 most of the Red Army's remaining rifle brigades were being amalgamated into rifle divisions as experience had shown this was a more efficient use of manpower.
This brigade began service as the 1st formation of the 38th Rifle Brigade, formed as a "student" brigade in the Central Asia Military District in November 1941. In December it was shipped to the Moscow Defence Zone before joining the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps in the reserves of Kalinin Front in January 1942. It saw combat in the Toropets–Kholm offensive as part of 3rd Shock Army and inflicted heavy casualties on the German forces around Kholm in March; on March 17 it was redesignated as the 4th Guards.
After redesignation the Brigade returned to the Kalinin Front reserves where it added a fourth rifle battalion. In August it was moved south by rail to the North Caucasus where it joined the 10th Guards Rifle Corps and it remained under this command until it was reformed. For nearly a year it took part in battles against German Army Group A in the Caucasus region, eventually facing the defenses of 17th Army in the Kuban Bridgehead in the early summer of 1943.
The 10th Guards was formed from July 30 to August 10, 1942 from the 4th Reserve Airborne Regiment in the Transcaucasus Military District and was immediately assigned to the 11th Guards Rifle Corps. By early August it was fighting along the Terek River as the 1st Panzer Army advanced eastward, but as the momentum of this advance ebbed the Red Army began planning counterattacks. When it went on the attack on November 6 it was supported by elements of the 63rd Tank Brigade, the 98th Guards Corps Artillery Regiment, the 52nd Mortar Battalion, and the 68th Guards Heavy Artillery Regiment, far more support than most rifle divisions received at this stage of the war. The 10th Guards never formed a fourth rifle battalion but by mid-1943 it did have a submachine gun battalion, a heavy machine gun battalion and large reconnaissance and sapper companies. By July it was also facing the German defenses on the Taman Peninsula.
On July 5, 1943 the combined brigades officially became the 108th Guards at Krasnodar in the North Caucasus Military District; as they were already Guards formations there was no presentation of a Guards banner. Once the division completed its reorganization its order of battle was as follows:
The division remained under the command of Col. Sergei Illarionovich Dunaev who had led the 4th Guards Brigade since March 20. Roughly 64 percent of the division's personnel came from the 4th Guards while 33 percent were from the 10th Guards. The 108th Guards inherited the Order of the Red Banner from both Brigades which they had received on December 13, 1942.
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108th Guards Rifle Division
The 108th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in July 1943, based on the 4th Guards Rifle Brigade and the 10th Guards Rifle Brigade and was the first of a small series of Guards divisions formed on a similar basis. It was considered a "sister" to the 109th Guards Rifle Division and they fought along much the same combat paths until the spring of 1945.
Following a further abortive offensive against the German Gotenkopfstellung on the Taman Peninsula that month the division was moved into reserve and then sent northwest to join the 44th Army in Southern Front. During the advance to the Dniepr River in early November that Army was disbanded and the division, along with its 10th Guards Rifle Corps, was briefly reassigned to 28th Army. During the winter the division took part in the battles along the Dniepr bend until the front broke open in March 1944 and the 108th Guards advanced to the Southern Bug River, winning an honorific in the process. After taking part in the takeover of Odessa the division fought along the Dniester as part of 5th Shock Army but was brought to a halt in heavy fighting west of the river. A new offensive began in August when the division was part of 46th Army and each of its rifle regiments won battle honors during the advance through eastern Romania and into Hungary. By November it was at the outer defenses of Budapest but remained engaged in fighting for that city until it finally fell on February 13, 1945. During the last months of the war the 108th Guards played a minor part in beating back the German Army's final offensive in Hungary before advancing on Vienna as part of the 27th Army. The division compiled a fine record of service but was disbanded in 1947.
By mid-1943 most of the Red Army's remaining rifle brigades were being amalgamated into rifle divisions as experience had shown this was a more efficient use of manpower.
This brigade began service as the 1st formation of the 38th Rifle Brigade, formed as a "student" brigade in the Central Asia Military District in November 1941. In December it was shipped to the Moscow Defence Zone before joining the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps in the reserves of Kalinin Front in January 1942. It saw combat in the Toropets–Kholm offensive as part of 3rd Shock Army and inflicted heavy casualties on the German forces around Kholm in March; on March 17 it was redesignated as the 4th Guards.
After redesignation the Brigade returned to the Kalinin Front reserves where it added a fourth rifle battalion. In August it was moved south by rail to the North Caucasus where it joined the 10th Guards Rifle Corps and it remained under this command until it was reformed. For nearly a year it took part in battles against German Army Group A in the Caucasus region, eventually facing the defenses of 17th Army in the Kuban Bridgehead in the early summer of 1943.
The 10th Guards was formed from July 30 to August 10, 1942 from the 4th Reserve Airborne Regiment in the Transcaucasus Military District and was immediately assigned to the 11th Guards Rifle Corps. By early August it was fighting along the Terek River as the 1st Panzer Army advanced eastward, but as the momentum of this advance ebbed the Red Army began planning counterattacks. When it went on the attack on November 6 it was supported by elements of the 63rd Tank Brigade, the 98th Guards Corps Artillery Regiment, the 52nd Mortar Battalion, and the 68th Guards Heavy Artillery Regiment, far more support than most rifle divisions received at this stage of the war. The 10th Guards never formed a fourth rifle battalion but by mid-1943 it did have a submachine gun battalion, a heavy machine gun battalion and large reconnaissance and sapper companies. By July it was also facing the German defenses on the Taman Peninsula.
On July 5, 1943 the combined brigades officially became the 108th Guards at Krasnodar in the North Caucasus Military District; as they were already Guards formations there was no presentation of a Guards banner. Once the division completed its reorganization its order of battle was as follows:
The division remained under the command of Col. Sergei Illarionovich Dunaev who had led the 4th Guards Brigade since March 20. Roughly 64 percent of the division's personnel came from the 4th Guards while 33 percent were from the 10th Guards. The 108th Guards inherited the Order of the Red Banner from both Brigades which they had received on December 13, 1942.